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Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and the Unfortunate Implications

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Re: Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and the Unfortunate Implications

#271

Post by BlueTemplar »

leetcrew wrote: post #186
siltpotato wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sexuality of a character in a game is even known is problematic; this implies the sexuality is being acted on. I wish developers would stop exploiting the four Fs to induce us to buy, and sadly my minimal consumption of video games is only a splash against the tide.

I don't think there's anything wrong with a video game character being gay, straight, or otherwise. for the most part, I do think video game romances are incredibly poorly done. I have not yet played a game where the romantic/sexual tension was not intensely cringey. we are still deep in the uncanny valley here. usually it's a fully optional side arc (eg, mass effect), so I can't say it's much of a problem in practic…

Baldur's Gate 2 ? Though not having fully animated 3D models (so you have to imagine it) probably helped a lot !

Re: Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and the Unfortunate Implications

#272

Post by gwd »

mcphage wrote: post #217
gwd wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's try your formulation in a different context and see if it works. Imagine someone saying this in the '50s: > There's a lot of media that uses caricatures to vilify [Blacks], but there is relatively little uproar from [Blacks] about it. They don't seem to be very sensitive apart from a small handful... I assure you, Christians are aware of how poorly they're portrayed by the media, and aren't happy about it. It s…

> I assure you, Christians are aware of how poorly they're portrayed by the media, and aren't happy about it. It seems to me that this is one of many factors that led many Christians to support Trump. "I don't like how I'm portrayed, so I'll validate their criticisms through my actions" doesn't seem the best solution. If they don't like their portrayal, it seems they would be better off to make the portrayal better i…

> "I don't like how I'm portrayed, so I'll validate their criticisms through my actions" doesn't seem the best solution. If they don't like their portrayal, it seems they would be better off to make the portrayal better instead of making themselves worse.

You're preaching to the choir, as they say. :-) I think Evangelical support for Trump is incredibly foolish for a number of reasons.

Re: Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and the Unfortunate Implications

#273

Post by belval »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #253
belval wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is just untrue. Most French Canadian don't have anything against the English and most certainly did not use a video game to express their "anger" of events that happened more than 300 years ago. 9th century England had very little in common with the British empire of the 18th century that crushed the French in America. If you want to argue that they have biases against the English because they are "French" Canad…

Most Americans don't have anything against the Russians yet they seem to be the default bad guys in a lot of our fictional entertainment. And you need to do some reading up on Canadian history. French Canada doesn't like the rest of Canada and vise versa. But the animosity extends in part to the European counterparts. You seem to think I think the Ubisoft employees are seething with hatred for the English. I don't. I…

I live in Quebec and spent most of my high school learning about Quebec (and Canada's) history. Guess what, we actually had a vote on whether we wanted to stay in Canada twice and decided than we'd rather stay with the federation. Do people in Quebec have various opinions on Canada? For sure. Does it extend to the US, UK and the rest of Europe? Absolutely not.

And since this is about Valhalla, why on earth would people in Quebec have some biases for Vikings? Quit spewing nonsense on the Internet.

Re: Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and the Unfortunate Implications

#274

Post by leetcrew »

JeremyNT wrote: post #120
himinlomax wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That is a fine argument as long as your game actually is historically accurate See, that makes some sense if you're doing high fantasy and shit that's set in a wholly fictional world. But just because some parts of a game are not realistic does not mean you should just forget about even trying. It makes no sense. > If your samurai game includes werewolves and machine guns you don't get to turn around say you didn't…

You realize that the premise of this series is that, in a distopian near future, scientists unlock the ability for people to access their genetic memories and inhabit the bodies of their ancestors, who were guided by alien forces and augmented with powerful technological relics. The AC series really never asks you to take it very seriously. To the extent that actual history is present, it's almost like fan service.

> To the extent that actual history is present, it's almost like fan service.

if this were true, it would certainly nullify most of the critiques from TFA. the meticulous attention to detail in creating historically accurate (or at least plausible) set pieces works against this argument.

Re: Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and the Unfortunate Implications

#275

Post by xalava »

goto11 wrote: post #199
xalava wrote: post #38

The most relevant point of this article is not about historical accuracy, but on the contradiction of claiming cultural sensitivity by including gender and origin diversity while totally missing the point on deeper issues. I've grown up in a period when pop culture didn't care much about cultural sensitivity. With proper education anyone can compensate and treat them as pure simplistic fiction, but I do think that th…

> I've grown up in a period when pop culture didn't care much about cultural sensitivity. I don't think such a period ever existed. Hollywood had the Hays code, comics had the comic code etc. Popular culture always have to navigate the hangups and sensitivities of society. It is possible that these concerns were invisible to you because they corresponded to your own values. When they change because society changes, y…

It is a valid point that there has always been cultural codes and that I'm probably more sensitive to changes that I've seen in my lifetime. And thanks for pointing Hays code. I've dug into some history of censorship and morality in US cinema.

However, by cultural sensitivity I refer to something beyond codes. Nothing that this article points out is particularly illegal, immoral or even shocking. Yet, probably due to cultural globalisation, social media, and the polarisation of the debate in the US on certain social issue, I am under the impression that this kind of clumsiness is more likely to be noticed.

Re: Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and the Unfortunate Implications

#276

Post by freewilly1040 »

> Absolutely, there are other games that indulge in the ‘virgin lands’ fantasy – Minecraft, Factorio, Dwarf Fortress

I feel Factorio is the counter example, you are a settler on a planet wiping out the local inhabitants mostly just minding their own business, who are attracted by the pollution you are generating. I definitely always feel like the bad guy when playing.

Re: Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and the Unfortunate Implications

#277

Post by throwaway894345 »

mcphage wrote: post #266
throwaway894345 wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People lash out at their bullies for catharsis, not for prudence. In any case, Christians are very charitable people by any metric, and that didn't spare them any bullying or earn them any favor, so why be surprised when some people behave according to the incentive structure we put around them? It's also worth noting that Christians as a collective didn't vote for Trump, rather they were pretty evenly split.

> so why be surprised when some people behave according to the incentive structure we put around them? I guess a basic level of self-respect? It's one thing to be criticized, but one could say "that's not who I am". And it's not like Jesus didn't warn them they'd be prosecuted for him; there are many, many verses about this very thing. But once they start performing destructive behaviors themselves, suddenly: that is…

Jesus also said there would be a lot of people who called themselves Christian but few who actually lived the life. As far as political polls go, they are happy to consider anyone a Christian irrespective of whether they practice any of the traditions or aspire toward the ethics, so we probably shouldn't expect generalizations about "Christians" to be very useful or intuitive. Anyway, I try not to criticize the bullied for how they manifest their scars--it doesn't help them and anyone whose opinion matters is only going to think less of me for it.

Re: Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and the Unfortunate Implications

#278

Post by BlueTemplar »

woko wrote: post #204
AsyncAwait wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if the game has an "anti-christian" tone, but I think in a secular society that should not be a problem, even if true.

Try replacing "christian" in your statement with "jew" or "muslism", and read it out loud. Being "anti-christian" is an issue, because it is always an issue when a society is against a group of people. One has the right to make fun and criticize religions, but not a large group of people, especially solely based on their traits, be it religion/faith, sexuality, etc.

What do you do when people identify first by their religion ?

Islam is quite problematic in this aspect. AFAIK the current resurgence of political Islam stems from its very core. Maybe it could be reformed to be (durably !) compatible with a secular state, but would that reformed religion be still Islam, or would it be as different as Christianity is from Judaism ?

Re: Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and the Unfortunate Implications

#279

Post by bigbubba »

teachrdan wrote: post #214
gwd wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's try your formulation in a different context and see if it works. Imagine someone saying this in the '50s: > There's a lot of media that uses caricatures to vilify [Blacks], but there is relatively little uproar from [Blacks] about it. They don't seem to be very sensitive apart from a small handful... I assure you, Christians are aware of how poorly they're portrayed by the media, and aren't happy about it. It s…

The actual lived conditions matter, too. In the 1950s, Black Americans were harassed, beaten and killed for registering to vote; no such discrimination against Christians has ever existed in the US, or even in North America or Europe, where the games we're talking about are largely developed and marketed. I agree that Christians are sometimes treated more critically in popular culture. But this is simply criticizing…

Germanic paganism won. Don't believe me? Let me ask you, what day of the week is it?

Re: Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and the Unfortunate Implications

#280

Post by justnotworthit »

quietbritishjim wrote: post #6

> > Inspired by historical events and characters, this work of fiction was designed, developed, and produced by a multicultural team of various beliefs, sexual orientations and gender identities. > This statement is making ... implicit [claims] (our diverse team means this game was produced in a careful, sensitive way) Ah, I think that's a misunderstanding of why the statement is there. It's not to claim that the gam…

"It's ok: My best friend is black"?

It might be the author's explanation, via standpoint theory:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standpoint_theory

https://meaningoflife.tv/videos/43188

But it probably started out how you said ("Let's not anger any muslims....") and turned into something else.

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